Pegasus XL – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Stratolaunch’s giant airplane flies over Mojave

April 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

Stratolaunch’s rocket carrier jet, the largest aircraft in the world by wing span, took off Saturday morning from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California for its first test flight.

World’s largest airplane completes first flight

April 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

Built for hauling rockets aloft to launch satellites, the world’s biggest airplane landed Saturday after a widely-anticipated test flight over California’s Mojave Desert, six months after the death of billionaire benefactor Paul Allen clouded the future of the project.

No new date set for Pegasus launch with NASA’s ICON satellite

November 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman officials have not set a new target date for the launch of the ICON ionospheric research satellite aboard an air-launched Pegasus XL rocket following a mission abort Wednesday, and it could be weeks before the the long-delayed science probe has another chance to head into orbit off Florida’s east coast.

Live coverage: Pegasus launch scrubbed, carrier jet returns to Cape Canaveral

November 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer satellite was scheduled to launch Wednesday aboard an air-dropped Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket over the Atlantic Ocean, but managers aborted the mission after encountering a technical concern with the rocket following departure from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launcher’s L-1011 carrier jet returned to Florida.

Timeline for Pegasus launch of ICON satellite

November 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus XL rocket will take about 11 minutes to place NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite into a roughly 357-mile-high (575-kilometer) orbit after an airborne launch off Florida’s east coast.

NASA managers clear Pegasus rocket for launch with ICON satellite

November 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman managers at the Kennedy Space Center decided Tuesday to press ahead with final preparations to launch a NASA scientific research satellite early Wednesday aboard an air-launched Pegasus XL rocket off Florida’s east coast.

Pegasus launch set for no earlier than Wednesday, but data review continues

November 2, 2018 Stephen Clark

The launch of a NASA research satellite built to probe conditions along the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space has been tentatively rescheduled for no earlier than Wednesday, pending the conclusion of a review of unexpected data signatures discovered on the first stage of the mission’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket.

Pegasus rocket launch postponed

October 23, 2018 Stephen Clark

Continuing a series of delays keeping NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer on Earth, NASA announced Tuesday that the satellite’s launch aboard an air-dropped Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket will not occur as scheduled Friday.

NASA likely to relocate delayed Pegasus launch to Florida

July 5, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman are expected to base the launch of an air-dropped Pegasus rocket with a NASA science satellite from Cape Canaveral later this year, after originally trying to get the mission into space from a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Carrier jet with Pegasus rocket returning to California, postponing NASA satellite launch

June 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman officials decided Friday to return a Pegasus rocket and its carrier aircraft from Hawaii to California, aborting a trip to Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean for next week’s scheduled launch of a NASA research satellite to conduct additional testing.